By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 19 Dec: A new variant of Corona virus JN.1 (BA.2.86.1.1) has been detected in India, and this has again begun to scare people. In view of this, an advisory has been issued by the Union Government to all the states. Consequently, the state government has also become alert to the new variant of the Covid-19 JN-1 and Health Secretary Dr R Rajesh Kumar has issued an advisory of operational guidelines to all the District Magistrates and the Chief Medical Officers (CMOs).
Dr Kumar has issued instructions to all the District Magistrates and Chief Medical Officers to follow the guidelines issued for prevention of COVID in hospitals. He has further directed that patients of respiratory, lung and cardiac disorders be monitored regularly and that they should also be tested for influenza infection. Till now there has been no patient of the new variant of COVID-19, JN-1, in the state but, as a precautionary measure, all the hospitals in the state have been alerted to the presence of new Covid variant in the country.
Under the advisory issued by Uttarakhand Health Secretary R Rajesh Kumar, instructions have been given to continuously monitor the spread of Covid-19 at the district level. At the same time, Dr Kumar has reminded the health department and the district level officers that the Government of India had issued guidelines on 18 December regarding the new variant, in accordance with which the Uttarakhand government has also issued its guidelines. The District Magistrates and CMOs have been instructed to increase surveillance at their respective levels.
Dr Kumar said that people are again being made aware about Corona virus. Besides, testing is also being increased. It may be recalled that t the first case of the new variant of Corona virus JN.1 (BA.2.86.1.1) in India has been reported from Kerala. As many as 300 new cases of corona have been reported in India in the past 24 hours.
The new Covid variant contains a significant number of unique mutations, particularly in the spike protein, that may contribute to increased infectivity and immune evasion.
Symptoms of JN.1 new Covid variant include fever, runny nose, sore throat, and headache. Most patients may experience mild upper respiratory symptoms, which typically improve within four to five days.
According to the advisory issued by Uttarakhand Government, Operational guidelines for revised surveillance strategy in context of COVID-19 should be followed. Besides this, Influenza like Illness (ILI)/Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) patients should be monitored at the district level. The advisory also states that adequate number of ILI/SARI patients should be monitored for COVID-19 and influenza tests should be done. Also, the information of the patients should be uploaded on the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) portal. All preparations should be maintained at the hospital level for Covid-19 management. Respiratory hygiene should be instilled in the general public. To create awareness about ILI/SARI, wide publicity should be done through all mediums. In case of symptoms of ILI/SARI, medicines should be given to the patients only after due medical consultation.
